Perempuan Jawa Menurut Balzac
dalam Voyage de Paris à Java:
Dominasi dan Subordinasi Imajiner
Wening Udasmoro
Jurusan Sastra Perancis
Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta
weningw@yahoo.com
Abstract
In the contemporary power relation theories, many scholars define domination or subordination in the level of praxis. Foucault explained the domination of certain institutions vis à vis the society from historical perspective in the 17th to 19th century. Bourdieu viewed the symbolic domination at the end of the 1960s after he analyzed the education system in France. However, many of these scholars did not emphasize the importance of the concept of imaginary domination. Therefore, this article attempts to show that prior to practicing domination in reality, initially, imaginary domination or subordination is formulated in the mind of persons. As such, this imaginary domination is used to define the identity of other individual, or group of persons. Even before knowing someone else’s character, one tends to conceptualize the quality of the person by using the difference of class, physical appearance, age, gender, etc. Balzac’s novel, Voyage de Paris à Java, is used as a case in point to explain and expound this concept.
